People v. Wong Cheng, 46 Phil.

729

G.R. No.L-18924 October 19, 1922

ROMUALDEZ, J.

FACTS:
appellee is accused of having illegally smoked opium, aboard the
merchant vesselChangsa of English nationality while said vessel
was anchored in Manila Bay two and a half miles from the shores of the city.
Lower court dismissed the case
ISSUE: W/N the courts of the Philippines have jurisdiction over crime
committed aboardmerchant vessels anchored in our jurisdiction waters

HELD: The order appealed from is revoked and the cause ordered remanded
to the court of origin for further proceedings in accordance with law, without
special findings as to costs.
YES.
2 fundamental rules on this particular matter in connection with
International Law
1.
French rule-according to which crimes committed aboard a foreign
merchant vessels should not be prosecuted in the courts of the country
within whose territorial jurisdiction they were committed
UNLESS: their commission affects the peace and security of the territory
2. English rule
-based on the territorial principle and followed in the United States
-according to which crimes perpetrated under such circumstances are in
general triable in the courts of the country within territory they were
committed.
As to whether the United States has ever consented by treaty or
otherwise to renouncing such jurisdiction or a part thereof, we find nothing to
this effect so far as England is concerned, to which nation the ship where the
crime in question was committed belongs.
mere possession of opium aboard a foreign vessel in transit was held by
this court not triable by or courts, because it being the primary object of our
Opium Law to protect the inhabitants of the Philippines against the
disastrous effects entailed by the use of this drug, its mere possession in
such a ship, without being used in our territory, does not being about in the
said territory those effects that our statute contemplates avoiding. Hence
such a mere possession is not considered a disturbance of the public order.

to smoke opium within our territorial limits, even though aboard a foreign
merchant ship, is certainly a breach of the public order here established,
because it causes such drug to produce its pernicious effects within our
territory. It seriously contravenes the purpose that our Legislature has in
mind in enacting the aforesaid repressive statute.